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The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

The authors describe how the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel is due to the influence of the Israel lobby, which has a far-reaching impact on America's foreign policy decisions throughout the Middle East.

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Wow, so in response to my reasoned and intelligent comment below, Vancouver Library user "rebecca500" sent me this message:
" What about China and how they treat Muslims - not so good, but the Chinese are not Jewish so therefore they can get away with treating Muslims badly. You are just a boring typical Jew hater. "
I sent this hateful and slanderous message to the VPL management and they replied there was nothing they could do- a lie. Very sad that such hateful abuse is allowed by the management of the VPL.

Expanding on their notorious 2006 article in the London Review of Books, the authors increase the mega-tonnage of their explosive claims about the malign influence of the pro-Israel lobby on the U.S. government. Mearsheimer and Walt, political scientists at the University of Chicago and Harvard, respectively, survey a wide coalition of pro-Israel groups and individuals, including American Jewish organizations and political donors, Christian fundamentalists, neo-con officials in the executive branch, media pundits who smear critics of Israel as anti-Semites and the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, which they characterize as having an almost unchallenged hold on Congress.

John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt clearly and convincingly show how Israel, through its domestic lobby, AIPAC ( American Israel Public Affairs Committee ), steers US foreign policy, extorts taxpayer funds, manipulates domestic elections, silences American dissent, and maintains a climate of fear and suspicion in both Washington and the general population to keep the money and political support flowing their way.

A thought provoking and eye opening book- one that is meticulously researched and is factually top notch. The authors address the various smear jobs perpetrated against them after the initial printing of the book ( such as the NY Times Review ). Read this book yourself, and make up your own mind if the arguments hold water ( they do to me ).

Be sure to read the full New York Times review. As with many of these types of books, superlatives are used more to generate controversy than for fact.

redban
Aug 07, 2015

This looks like a fascinating book.

Also note that currently in Canada, our lovely Prime Minister Stephen Harper is pushing for hate crime laws on those who boycott Israel. But Canadians are allergic to voting (not to mention it is clinically proven that reading causes headaches for many Canadians), so we continue to enjoy a Conservative government, 8-years strong baby!

An excellent and even handed examination of the pernicious, and powerful influence of the Israel Lobby on US politics and life. A real eye opener- this book has been mercilessly attacked and criticized-but read the book so you can make up your own mind about the validity of its arguments ( factual arguments mind you ). The thesis of this book still holds a huge importance with relation to the US & Canadian governments regarding the middle east ( especially with regard to invading Iran ). The book is especially interesting now with the current presidential hopefuls running for the office and the continuing influence the Israel Lobby has on them .